Letters written to John Charles Ryan - from Toowoomba 1883

Among our family treasures are a number of letters which were sent to my great great grandfather, John Charles Ryan. John was born in Portlaw, Co Waterford, Ireland in about 1837. He died on Sydney on 15th November 1910.

The letters were written from Portlaw Co. Waterford, Toowoomba, Laidley and the property Yanga in Balranald. Various names and places are mentioned in the letters. My aim is to work out the connections between the letter writers, those mentioned in the letters and John Ryan. 

The first of the letters was written in Toowoomba in 1883.

                                   Toowoomba                                            you that your dear
                                   Sunday 17th June 1883                          old mother after much
                                                                                                   suffering is at rest

                                    My dear John                                         she did not ? ?                                                                                                                                  time? as soon as she

                                     I know I ought to                                   ought to have done                                                           have written to you                                & had her removed                 

                                     long since for I can                                to his own private                                                               never forget you but                               hospital at once &

                                     I have let little ailments                          she died in peace
                                     & other things prevent                           & comfort for she had                   
                                     me, and now am                                   been well attended to                                                          sorry dear John to be                            
                                     the one fixed upon                                     
                                     by Dr Martin to tell                                 

                                                            

         & buried her respectably                                            There is much I would

          she owed a pound to                                                   like to write to you

          the grocer which he                                                    but cannot hold my

          payed feeling since                                                     pen thank you for

          you would gladly                                                        yours to me & send

          repay any expense                                                       me another as soon

          he had gone to -                                                         as you can, I want

          he does not say how                                                    to know ? Mary

          much it was but                                                            love Mary and you

          I think dear John                                                          are & hope you will

         you had better write                                                      write soon. 

         at once & ask him

From the letter

1. The letter isn't signed so I don't know who wrote it.

2. John's mother died before 17 June 1883, possibly in 1882 or earlier

3. John's mother owed the grocer

4. Dr Martin attended his mother at his private hospital before her death

5. Dr Martin paid the grocer

6. Dr Martin had expenses

What I know

1. From John Ryan's death certificate his mother's name is given as Catherine Ryan (Crawley)

2. John and his family had lived in the Darling Downs region of Queensland before moving to Sydney.

3. James Joseph Ryan (b 1870), Mary Ryan (b & d 1874) and Mary (b1876) were all born on the Darling Downs. Mary (2) was born at Spring Creek.

4. John Ryan came from Portlaw, Co Waterford

5. The Mary mentioned is John Ryan's wife Mary O'Halloran

What I need to discover

1. Who was the author of the letter? He may have been someone who knew John from Ireland as he appears to be acquainted with Dr Martin.

2. Who had let the author know that John's mother had died?

3. When did John's mother die? The registered death should say there was a medical attendant.

As I find the answer to these questions I'll edit this post.